BJP committed to construction of Ram temple: Rajnath

Allahabad: From a VHP platform, BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Wednesday raked up the Ayodhya issue saying his party is committed to the construction of the Ram temple.

The new BJP president made the declaration moments after former VHP chief Ashok Singhal bragged about the demolition of Babri masjid in the early 1990s during the campaign for construction of Ram temple.

"BJP is a party which believes in Hindu values. The party is committed to the construction of Ram temple at Ram Janamboomi in Ayodhya. It is a cherished desire of millions of Hindus and the BJP would certainly like to do its bit in fulfilling the same," Singh said.

He was participating in a meeting of the VHP's central advisory committee here in presence of its top leaders like Singhal and Pravin Togadia and party colleagues Yogi Adityanath and Laxmikant Vajpayee.

"I am a firm believer in Hindu ideals and love to take part in functions like these. It is my request that no political meaning be attached to my visit."

To a query on whether projecting Narendra Modi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate came up during his meeting the Sangh Parivar leaders, Singh quipped, "A decision on this matter can be taken only by the party parliamentary board."

Earlier, Singh, who arrived in the city on his first visit after assuming the top post in the party, drove straight to the Sangam for a holy dip.

He stopped at a number of places en route to accepting greetings and garlands from party supporters and when some of them raised slogans that they wanted to see "Modi as PM", he promptly asked them to keep quiet.